Russia accuses Ukraine of timing oil cutoff to interfere in upcoming Hungary polls

A senior Russian diplomat accused Ukraine on Thursday of timing the oil cutoff to coincide with Hungary's upcoming general elections as part of an effort to interfere in the vote.

Speaking in an interview with the Russian state news agency RIA, head of the 3d European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Oleg Tyapkin said Hungary was "justifiably outraged" after Kyiv halted oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline.

"It can hardly be considered a mere coincidence that this provocative act was organized precisely now, during the final stage of the election campaign," he noted.

The bugging of Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto's phone by Ukrainian special services and EU authorities criticizing Prime Minister Orban was cited by Tyapkin during the interview as another example of external interference attempts in Hungary's upcoming parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for April 12.

At the same time, fake news about Russia's attempts to influence the upcoming elections constantly appears in Hungary's media space, he said.

The diplomat noted that Moscow noticed statements by Czech representatives about Prague's readiness to lead a team of EU specialists to inspect the pipeline on Ukrainian territory, adding that Slovakia is also proposing a similar initiative.

"However, even the Slovak ambassador in Kyiv was denied access to the site of the 'accident.' What does this indicate? That the Ukrainian regime has something to hide," he stressed.

According to him, "everything points to the fact that the Ukrainian authorities, with the connivance of Eurocrats, will try to delay the pipeline's return to operation as long as possible."

The halt in oil transportation via Druzhba has already led to significant difficulties in the economies of Slovakia and Hungary, and there are also problems with alternative oil supplies, which is why Bratislava and Budapest are so persistently seeking the resumption of the Druzhba pipeline's operation, he explained.

Commenting on statements by the German opposition about restoring Russian oil and gas supplies via Druzhba and the surviving string of Nord Stream, Tyapkin said they are driven by the reduction in supply on the fuel market and the sharp rise in prices as a consequence of the US and Israeli attacks against Iran.

"However, the German government continues to stubbornly ignore the multibillion-dollar costs and obvious risks to the country's economic model and its citizens, fanatically demanding an end to oil and gas imports from Russia," he noted.

Moscow is also closely monitoring the nuclear debate in Germany and warns Berlin about the "fatal consequences" of such aspirations, he stressed.

Commenting on the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Geneva, Tyapkin said that one round of negotiations on Ukraine took place in this city "solely due to a confluence of logistical circumstances."

"In our assessments of Switzerland's departure from the principles and traditions of neutrality, nothing has changed. We state that nothing remains of the former reputation of an unengaged Swiss negotiation platform, de facto," he said.